TODAY is the UN International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
How is it that in the 21st century one in three women will be beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in her lifetime, according to the United Nations? And also, according to the UN, women between the ages of 15 and 44 are at greater risk from rape and domestic violence than from cancer, traffic accidents, war and malaria?
Why do close-minded, religious zealots feel the need to throw acid in schoolgirls' faces? Why do the men who are "leaders" in a church establishment want to excommunicate a brave member for his open-minded respect for women? WHY are women STILL thought so little of today?
What are we women worth?
Everything! As good as any male on earth...equal as human beings, I'd say. We are all priceless. :-)
It hurts my heart every time I hear about a woman, or group of women, being violated. Abused. Harassed. Exploited. All of the above. I freeze whenever I hear the this sort of news or see it. As if I am held captive.
Either I have become more sensitive to these issues, or the ocurrence of violence has increased over the years. Certainly in war torn regions like Iraq, Afghanistan, and countries in Africa like the Democratic Republic of Congo--women have suffered acts of violence and abuse more than those living in non-conflict areas of the world.
Today, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon called on the world (leaders) to do more to address the abuse of women and girls. Abuse of half of humanity affects all of humanity. What's the point? Power control? Threatened loss of power? What does that power mean if a leader is incapable of respecting the women and girls he OR she leads? Many women are guilty, too, of being silent. Silently accepting that women deserve to be treated like second-class citizens. I am not innocent of this.
Last month, our US President Bush declared October as National Domestic Violence Month. It looks very good what he has on paper. But I wonder how much he truly believes it, considering that he doesn't have a record of supporting women's reproductive health rights. Does he know all the facts about domestic abuse? Do YOU know? I'm still learning!
I wonder who it is who patronizes underage girls in the brothels of third world countries? No, I don't reeaaally want to know who, but those people are as guilty as the ones who deceive young women and their families with the promises of a "decent" job. It's evil what they're doing. The end of slavery never arrived. It just continues in a different form.
If people can overcome their prejudices and vote for the first African American president in history, vote in several states to allow gay marriages, and in other countries which are historically MUCH more patriarchial than ours to elect a woman to the highest office in their land, then surely, everyone can learn that violence, abuse, sexual exploitation and all that it encompasses--IS UNACCEPTABLE. Inexusable. Can't they? Can't we? Punish the wrongdoers with a zero tolerance policy. That's how I feel about it.
I hope we'll have more enlightened leaders in my lifetime. Those who could help to educate those who might have outdated ideas about women.
We are human beings, too, worthy of respect!
"Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead."
-- Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888), American novelist
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Friday, November 7, 2008
One Small Step Forward for Women
This election convinced me more than ever that I will never vote for anyone, female or male, who does not represent what I value. What I believe in, and what I am willing to spend the rest of my life making a stand for.
It sounds simple enough, doesn't it? Vote your values.
I have too much self-respect and respect for the women in my family--both those who came before me, those who come after me (nieces, cousins), as well as my friends, and for the feminine half of humanity, to ever insult them with a vote for those who would so blatantly disrespect women.
If you know me or have been reading my posts in the last year, you know that I am impassioned about women's rights. Senator McCain and Governor Palin forced a lot of women to wake up and speak out. That's always a good thing! ;-)
It wouldn't have mattered if everything else they had on their platform was agreeable to me: I still could never stomach having a president who has a long record voting against women's health regarding family planning and reproductive rights for women both in the USA and abroad, has voted against funding the VAWA, the Violence Against Women Act. Furthermore, how could I have voted for someone who thinks so little of women--that he ultimately decided to put a anti-woman woman on his ticket, thinking that women would fall for it?
It's insulting, to say the least.
Women's rights: that's my number one priority. The measure I use to evaluate each candidate whom I am asked to consider to represent me for public office. Everything else is secondary. We make up more than half of humanity. We help create life and bring life into the world. Mothers are the glue of most families. But we still experience rampant sexism. And many women around the world are still being treated like second-class citizens at best, regarded as commodities to be exploited in sexual slave trafficking or in inhumane working conditions conveniently overlooked by governments and multi-national corporations.
I don't know who scares me more: him or her? The governor. Yes, definitely.
Thank goodness for blogs like Women Against Sarah Palin, for thinking women (which included women of her own party) to express their deepest fears about what might be if such a ticket of anti-women leaders were to govern our country.
She has given me every reason to dislike her. And continues to do so. You'd think she had committed a personal grievance against me the way I rant on about her, even post-election. But as I mentioned above, when I think about women's issues, I think about the women in my family, what my elders have suffered in the past, and what I don't want my nieces to have to endure in the future. Misogyny. Sexism. All the attendant harmful attitudes and actions that come along with them. I start with my family, my friends, and then I think of ALL the women around the world.
First, she dissed our president-elect (whom I didn't vote for) by mocking his background as community organizer. Those are the people who do the thankless job of trying to get everyone together, educate participants to better their community. I'm all for community improvements and social justice. Community organizers get the shit done! Even from my extremely limited experience of having to organize board members of a city orchestra to come together at a meeting (getting them to agree on the date, and sometimes, agenda) and organizing volunteers for various activities gave me a taste of what it takes to organize so many people for a common purpose.
What does the governor have to say about community organizing now that her running mate's rival will be in the White House, thanks due in part to the skills and lessons he learned so many years ago as a community organizer?
The fact that she would force rape victims to pay for their own rape kits is unimaginable to me. Is it because she is so religious and opposed to abortion and that there is (I assume) contraceptives in the kit that she doesn't want taxpayers to pay for it? And she wants the victim to go through with an unwanted pregancy from someone who violently violated her? No exception for rape or incest? How in the world can she call herself a feminist, as she answered that, yes she is, when asked by a reporter shortly before elections (she didn't seem very convincing in her tone to me!)?
The library incident was the last straw for me. That she even wanted to remove books from the PUBLIC LIBRARY that were offensive to her personal, religious beliefs was a big, red flag to me. THAT was, and is, totally unacceptable to me. I'll read whatever I please! I actually did write to reporter at the Anchorage Daily News to ask about a detail re: the letters--it seemed so high schoolish to me, and she wrote me back, saying that apparently it had been done before: sending letters of threatened termination, asking the recipient to reapply, and answer WHY they should have the job.
I don't trust anyone who would dare to censor books. It assumes people are so stupid that they can't think for themselves, especially when presented with material that offends the person or people who wish to ban the books in question. I really despise that to the marrow of my bones.
And this morning my blood was boiling! :-( On the radio news show "Democracy Now", songwriter Gretchen Peters expressed her disappointment with the governor from Alaska who used her song "Independence Day", which was recorded by singer Martina McBride in 1994, for her own campaign rally. That song is about an abused woman. A very powerful song, I might add. How ironic that the governor used it (out of context), and is for women paying for their own rape kits. Ms. Peters did the right thing: she decided to donate the royalties from that that song to Planned Parenthood during election time--in the governor's name, to help women in need. ;-b (though I wrote in a past post that I have a few issues with PP. :-()
What's next with her? Why should I care? I don't even know her, personally! However, I do think she can be very mean-spirited when she wants to be.
It is women like the governor of Alaska who scare me. Women who would set women's rights back decades. To my mind: centuries! %-( I'm keeping an eye on her, and women like her. Men, too. They shouldn't be allowed to be in public office for that reason alone...that's my personal bias. Leave your misogyny and religious beliefs at home at let people live freely!
I want to live in a progressive world, not a regressive police state. I will remain on guard until my last breath.
It sounds simple enough, doesn't it? Vote your values.
I have too much self-respect and respect for the women in my family--both those who came before me, those who come after me (nieces, cousins), as well as my friends, and for the feminine half of humanity, to ever insult them with a vote for those who would so blatantly disrespect women.
If you know me or have been reading my posts in the last year, you know that I am impassioned about women's rights. Senator McCain and Governor Palin forced a lot of women to wake up and speak out. That's always a good thing! ;-)
It wouldn't have mattered if everything else they had on their platform was agreeable to me: I still could never stomach having a president who has a long record voting against women's health regarding family planning and reproductive rights for women both in the USA and abroad, has voted against funding the VAWA, the Violence Against Women Act. Furthermore, how could I have voted for someone who thinks so little of women--that he ultimately decided to put a anti-woman woman on his ticket, thinking that women would fall for it?
It's insulting, to say the least.
Women's rights: that's my number one priority. The measure I use to evaluate each candidate whom I am asked to consider to represent me for public office. Everything else is secondary. We make up more than half of humanity. We help create life and bring life into the world. Mothers are the glue of most families. But we still experience rampant sexism. And many women around the world are still being treated like second-class citizens at best, regarded as commodities to be exploited in sexual slave trafficking or in inhumane working conditions conveniently overlooked by governments and multi-national corporations.
I don't know who scares me more: him or her? The governor. Yes, definitely.
Thank goodness for blogs like Women Against Sarah Palin, for thinking women (which included women of her own party) to express their deepest fears about what might be if such a ticket of anti-women leaders were to govern our country.
She has given me every reason to dislike her. And continues to do so. You'd think she had committed a personal grievance against me the way I rant on about her, even post-election. But as I mentioned above, when I think about women's issues, I think about the women in my family, what my elders have suffered in the past, and what I don't want my nieces to have to endure in the future. Misogyny. Sexism. All the attendant harmful attitudes and actions that come along with them. I start with my family, my friends, and then I think of ALL the women around the world.
First, she dissed our president-elect (whom I didn't vote for) by mocking his background as community organizer. Those are the people who do the thankless job of trying to get everyone together, educate participants to better their community. I'm all for community improvements and social justice. Community organizers get the shit done! Even from my extremely limited experience of having to organize board members of a city orchestra to come together at a meeting (getting them to agree on the date, and sometimes, agenda) and organizing volunteers for various activities gave me a taste of what it takes to organize so many people for a common purpose.
What does the governor have to say about community organizing now that her running mate's rival will be in the White House, thanks due in part to the skills and lessons he learned so many years ago as a community organizer?
The fact that she would force rape victims to pay for their own rape kits is unimaginable to me. Is it because she is so religious and opposed to abortion and that there is (I assume) contraceptives in the kit that she doesn't want taxpayers to pay for it? And she wants the victim to go through with an unwanted pregancy from someone who violently violated her? No exception for rape or incest? How in the world can she call herself a feminist, as she answered that, yes she is, when asked by a reporter shortly before elections (she didn't seem very convincing in her tone to me!)?
The library incident was the last straw for me. That she even wanted to remove books from the PUBLIC LIBRARY that were offensive to her personal, religious beliefs was a big, red flag to me. THAT was, and is, totally unacceptable to me. I'll read whatever I please! I actually did write to reporter at the Anchorage Daily News to ask about a detail re: the letters--it seemed so high schoolish to me, and she wrote me back, saying that apparently it had been done before: sending letters of threatened termination, asking the recipient to reapply, and answer WHY they should have the job.
I don't trust anyone who would dare to censor books. It assumes people are so stupid that they can't think for themselves, especially when presented with material that offends the person or people who wish to ban the books in question. I really despise that to the marrow of my bones.
And this morning my blood was boiling! :-( On the radio news show "Democracy Now", songwriter Gretchen Peters expressed her disappointment with the governor from Alaska who used her song "Independence Day", which was recorded by singer Martina McBride in 1994, for her own campaign rally. That song is about an abused woman. A very powerful song, I might add. How ironic that the governor used it (out of context), and is for women paying for their own rape kits. Ms. Peters did the right thing: she decided to donate the royalties from that that song to Planned Parenthood during election time--in the governor's name, to help women in need. ;-b (though I wrote in a past post that I have a few issues with PP. :-()
What's next with her? Why should I care? I don't even know her, personally! However, I do think she can be very mean-spirited when she wants to be.
It is women like the governor of Alaska who scare me. Women who would set women's rights back decades. To my mind: centuries! %-( I'm keeping an eye on her, and women like her. Men, too. They shouldn't be allowed to be in public office for that reason alone...that's my personal bias. Leave your misogyny and religious beliefs at home at let people live freely!
I want to live in a progressive world, not a regressive police state. I will remain on guard until my last breath.
| Warning |
| When I am an old woman I shall wear purple With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me. And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter. I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells And run my stick along the public railings And make up for the sobriety of my youth. I shall go out in my slippers in the rain And pick flowers in other people's gardens And learn to spit. You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat And eat three pounds of sausages at a go Or only bread and pickle for a week And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes. But now we must have clothes that keep us dry And pay our rent and not swear in the street And set a good example for the children. We must have friends to dinner and read the papers. But maybe I ought to practice a little now? So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple. Jenny Joseph, English poet (b. 1932) |
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Day After Witches Brew
At first cock-crow the ghosts must go/Back to their quiet graves below.
-Theodosia Garrison, American poet (1874-1944)
If you look out one of my bedroom windows, you can clearly see about six or seven graves across the way, beyond a little creek running in front of it. They are the final resting places of the original owner's family who lived on the property that we now live on; most of them died circa 1830.
In the spirit of Halloween (and I meant to post yesterday, but baked cookies instead), I was kind of hoping I could meet their ghosts. That they'd tap on our bedroom window to say hello. ;-0 Just to see what they looked liked. Is that morbid? Maybe I watched too many scary movies this past week? I'm just curious that's all! %-)
One night, hubby and I stayed up and watched "Halloween", and then the 4th and 5th sequels! I had no idea it had so many sequels. Eight or nine, including a remake of the original one. It was good for laughs, at best. Scary as always!
I still think psychological horror movies are the scariest movies, like "Psycho", "Raising Caine", and "Texas Chainsaw Massacre". I don't like watching too much blood and gore, especially those that have disembodied head scenes. That would make me puke in a flash.
My little Halloween decorations are still on my windowsill and fridge. I haven't taken them down yet because I think they're awfully cute. Mice can be super cute in cartoon version. But not in real life. Well, maybe momentarily, but they no longer become cute when they've caused damage and/or pooped your property. The last three nights in a row, three mice have got caught in mil's kitchen. And the same trap in the same place. The second one let out a squeal and startled us! His back broke and it took longer for him to perish. The other two died instantly.
I prefer Tom and Jerry! :-)
No tricksters came by our home yesterday. We didn't have any candy to distribute anyway. There's NO light on these country roads! %-0 It is kind of fun to give candy out. The last time we did that was when we still lived in our house in DE. During the last couple of years we were there, door to door trick-or-treating seemed to be out of fashion, in favor of parties for kids, in the name of safety. That seems to be a reasonable thing to do, but if I were a kid, I'd still rather go door to door: there's more spookiness and fun there, in contrast to being herded into a party. I'm not a party person--that's not my style, so that's my personal bias. I like to go exploring on my own, or with a couple of close friends. ;-)
No fantastic, technicolor dreams last night, which is strange, considering all the horror movies I've watched each night in the last week. I dreamed I was scheduled to take a FRENCH class, for this morning! Why? I don't know! Are there secret travel agendas lurking in my mind? Was my five years of French not sufficient for whatever reason? Hey, if someone told me I had to be in class right now, I wouldn't mind--I love learning languages!
This year, I didn't don any of my Halloween earrings. I just didn't think of it until too late. I'll try to do better to get in the spirit next year!
-Theodosia Garrison, American poet (1874-1944)
If you look out one of my bedroom windows, you can clearly see about six or seven graves across the way, beyond a little creek running in front of it. They are the final resting places of the original owner's family who lived on the property that we now live on; most of them died circa 1830.
In the spirit of Halloween (and I meant to post yesterday, but baked cookies instead), I was kind of hoping I could meet their ghosts. That they'd tap on our bedroom window to say hello. ;-0 Just to see what they looked liked. Is that morbid? Maybe I watched too many scary movies this past week? I'm just curious that's all! %-)
One night, hubby and I stayed up and watched "Halloween", and then the 4th and 5th sequels! I had no idea it had so many sequels. Eight or nine, including a remake of the original one. It was good for laughs, at best. Scary as always!
I still think psychological horror movies are the scariest movies, like "Psycho", "Raising Caine", and "Texas Chainsaw Massacre". I don't like watching too much blood and gore, especially those that have disembodied head scenes. That would make me puke in a flash.
My little Halloween decorations are still on my windowsill and fridge. I haven't taken them down yet because I think they're awfully cute. Mice can be super cute in cartoon version. But not in real life. Well, maybe momentarily, but they no longer become cute when they've caused damage and/or pooped your property. The last three nights in a row, three mice have got caught in mil's kitchen. And the same trap in the same place. The second one let out a squeal and startled us! His back broke and it took longer for him to perish. The other two died instantly.
I prefer Tom and Jerry! :-)
No tricksters came by our home yesterday. We didn't have any candy to distribute anyway. There's NO light on these country roads! %-0 It is kind of fun to give candy out. The last time we did that was when we still lived in our house in DE. During the last couple of years we were there, door to door trick-or-treating seemed to be out of fashion, in favor of parties for kids, in the name of safety. That seems to be a reasonable thing to do, but if I were a kid, I'd still rather go door to door: there's more spookiness and fun there, in contrast to being herded into a party. I'm not a party person--that's not my style, so that's my personal bias. I like to go exploring on my own, or with a couple of close friends. ;-)
No fantastic, technicolor dreams last night, which is strange, considering all the horror movies I've watched each night in the last week. I dreamed I was scheduled to take a FRENCH class, for this morning! Why? I don't know! Are there secret travel agendas lurking in my mind? Was my five years of French not sufficient for whatever reason? Hey, if someone told me I had to be in class right now, I wouldn't mind--I love learning languages!
This year, I didn't don any of my Halloween earrings. I just didn't think of it until too late. I'll try to do better to get in the spirit next year!
Deep into the darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.
-Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven
Thursday, October 23, 2008
How to Stay Motivated to Move My Body?
It's been one month since I ended my taekwondo training and I miss it very much. I felt it was the ONLY thing that would force me to get moving as I am NOT the athletic type, nor am I one who can stick to any exercise program for a long period of time.
And it's been almost a month now since we've moved to our new home. Now the challenge is to move my body! %-0
Several days ago, I got tired of not doing anything about it, and went outside to do my tkd forms, walk around the property, and play tag with the front door by running up and down the front steps of my in-laws home (which is maybe a couple hundred feet from our cottage) a dozen times.
Yesterday, I forced myself to go outside, but this time I jogged around the entire property. I felt like a new woman! %-D I'm hoping I can keep this up at least every other day. It's hard cuz I like the social aspect of an exercise class, and my heart is still in martial arts--I worked so hard to get my black belt, after all!
But the reality is that we are now about 17 miles south of civilization (the nearest city), three miles from the main roads in our own town, and gas is expensive. Not to mention looking for work.
Am I a slave to fate? Not if I can help it!
I have my heart and mind set on finding further martial arts training in the future, but in the meantime, I'll have to try to remember my forms. I have to think of one of my heroines, Simone de Beauvoir, who wrote,
"I remained faithful to my declared intention of turning all that life imposed on me to my own purposes" (from Prime of Life)
Of course, this move was not imposed on me: I agreed it would be a good idea, not least being that it would be financially wise. There are pluses and minuses to every living area, however.
To counter the lack of civilization nearby (!), I bought The Yin Yoga Kit from half.com yesterday. I saw it in the public library near where we used to live and it looked intriguing to me, although I never got to check it out because someone else always had it. The massage therapist in me (I am one, after all!) likes the idea of yin yoga stretching the connective tissue, rather than conditioning the muscles, in the form of static stretching--holding the form for 3-5 minutes. It is supposedly a more meditative kind of yoga, and reputedly, the oldest form of hatha yoga. I'll have to do more reading on yoga, as I know little about it; I have discovered that there are some noteworthy books on the subject in our library system down here, so I am looking forward to that.
Hubby moved our Nordic Track into a spare room today, that is linked to a five-car garage. Fil wants to turn it into a fitness room. Our NT is the original model. No fancy digital stuff or heavy machinery to help stabilize your body: you gotta do all the work! We bought it used, years ago. Then I found another near-copy of our version lying next to the dumpster in our apt complex a couple years ago, with skis missing. Hubby's got the "new" version in the fitness room now. I'd rather run up and down the steps outside! ;-)
To make myself move, I've determined any activity I engage in must be on MY terms only, for some measure of long-term success, i.e.: continuity! It has to INTEREST me, and not seem like a chore! It must have some element of FUN and VARIETY, or I'll quit from boredom! The activity/ies must also incorporate the essential activities to meet my fitness goals of flexibility, cardio, and strength, or I'm wasting my time! %-0 I don't intend to ever become decrepit in old age.
I'll have to work on the social aspect in other ways, in regards to exercise and life in general. That's a big challenge in a rural area. Maybe mil and I could walk together some mornings; she's always been a great walker.
Thankfully, there's social groups I can bide my time with, like facebook. I just need to find real face time with women who have similar interests as I do.
And just maybe one day, I hope I can find a group of people to practice all the things that go along with taekwondo or another form of martial arts with...like sparring!;-)
And it's been almost a month now since we've moved to our new home. Now the challenge is to move my body! %-0
Several days ago, I got tired of not doing anything about it, and went outside to do my tkd forms, walk around the property, and play tag with the front door by running up and down the front steps of my in-laws home (which is maybe a couple hundred feet from our cottage) a dozen times.
Yesterday, I forced myself to go outside, but this time I jogged around the entire property. I felt like a new woman! %-D I'm hoping I can keep this up at least every other day. It's hard cuz I like the social aspect of an exercise class, and my heart is still in martial arts--I worked so hard to get my black belt, after all!
But the reality is that we are now about 17 miles south of civilization (the nearest city), three miles from the main roads in our own town, and gas is expensive. Not to mention looking for work.
Am I a slave to fate? Not if I can help it!
I have my heart and mind set on finding further martial arts training in the future, but in the meantime, I'll have to try to remember my forms. I have to think of one of my heroines, Simone de Beauvoir, who wrote,
"I remained faithful to my declared intention of turning all that life imposed on me to my own purposes" (from Prime of Life)
Of course, this move was not imposed on me: I agreed it would be a good idea, not least being that it would be financially wise. There are pluses and minuses to every living area, however.
To counter the lack of civilization nearby (!), I bought The Yin Yoga Kit from half.com yesterday. I saw it in the public library near where we used to live and it looked intriguing to me, although I never got to check it out because someone else always had it. The massage therapist in me (I am one, after all!) likes the idea of yin yoga stretching the connective tissue, rather than conditioning the muscles, in the form of static stretching--holding the form for 3-5 minutes. It is supposedly a more meditative kind of yoga, and reputedly, the oldest form of hatha yoga. I'll have to do more reading on yoga, as I know little about it; I have discovered that there are some noteworthy books on the subject in our library system down here, so I am looking forward to that.
Hubby moved our Nordic Track into a spare room today, that is linked to a five-car garage. Fil wants to turn it into a fitness room. Our NT is the original model. No fancy digital stuff or heavy machinery to help stabilize your body: you gotta do all the work! We bought it used, years ago. Then I found another near-copy of our version lying next to the dumpster in our apt complex a couple years ago, with skis missing. Hubby's got the "new" version in the fitness room now. I'd rather run up and down the steps outside! ;-)
To make myself move, I've determined any activity I engage in must be on MY terms only, for some measure of long-term success, i.e.: continuity! It has to INTEREST me, and not seem like a chore! It must have some element of FUN and VARIETY, or I'll quit from boredom! The activity/ies must also incorporate the essential activities to meet my fitness goals of flexibility, cardio, and strength, or I'm wasting my time! %-0 I don't intend to ever become decrepit in old age.
I'll have to work on the social aspect in other ways, in regards to exercise and life in general. That's a big challenge in a rural area. Maybe mil and I could walk together some mornings; she's always been a great walker.
Thankfully, there's social groups I can bide my time with, like facebook. I just need to find real face time with women who have similar interests as I do.
And just maybe one day, I hope I can find a group of people to practice all the things that go along with taekwondo or another form of martial arts with...like sparring!;-)
Friday, September 19, 2008
In Defense of Women's Health
I'm blazing hot! :-(
I have never signed a petition so fast and written my comments so quickly as I just did a few minutes ago.
This morning, I got an email from AlterNet.org:
Just three weeks ago, the Bush administration issued a rule that would limit the rights of patients to receive complete and accurate reproductive health information when they visit the doctor. It's more of the Bush administration's bad medicine, and we need your help to stop it.
This new rule could allow individual health care providers to redefine abortion to include the most common forms of birth control -- and then refuse to provide them. A woman's ability to manage her own health care is at risk of being compromised by politics and ideology. We have until September 25 to voice our opposition. Please, click here to help Planned Parenthood fight back by sending your comments to the Department of Health and Human Services:
And they give you a link to sign at the Planned Parenthood Action Center.
I have a few issues with Planned Parenthood, but this is too great for me to ignore. This is the template letter that the public can send to the Department of Health and Human Services:
I am writing to oppose the so-called "conscience" rule recently submitted by Secretary Leavitt. This regulation poses a serious threat to women's health care by limiting the rights of patients to receive complete and accurate health information and services.
At a time when more and more families are uninsured and under economic assault, we find our health care system is in crisis and our president taking steps to deny access to basic care. Women's ability to manage their own health care is at risk of being compromised by politics and ideology.
I was, and am, so outraged, I had to add my own thoughts:
And religion. This is like the Taliban: totally disrespectful of women. Think about the women in YOUR family for a moment. This rule has no "conscience"; it has no regard for the health of half of humanity. Some women need birth control for health reasons not related to preventing births but directly related to reproductive health. Would YOU deny something to your SONS, BROTHERS, FATHERS, and HUSBANDS if they needed something necessary for health maintenance? You certainly didn't turn a blind eye away from Viagra.
Don't be two-faced. Women are human beings, as worthy as men, not some commodity to be controlled by the religious and political ideologies of a few.
If the concern is abortion, banning access to contraceptives is not the answer. That is nothing but denying women their dignity and their health. It is INSULTING your mother, grandmother and ALL the women who came before them, and after them.
I haven't written this fast since the day I accidentally erased something off an ancient computer 20 years ago on the job and the executive director needed what I had just erased for a meeting she was attending. She needed it about 10 minutes. I re-produced the document it in 12 (not a bad memory, eh?), but when she left, my back was wet with sweat! %-0
I think I need to write more so I'll be a better writer. Be a better activist. Be better all-around.
There's always room for improvement. ;-)
I have never signed a petition so fast and written my comments so quickly as I just did a few minutes ago.
This morning, I got an email from AlterNet.org:
Just three weeks ago, the Bush administration issued a rule that would limit the rights of patients to receive complete and accurate reproductive health information when they visit the doctor. It's more of the Bush administration's bad medicine, and we need your help to stop it.
This new rule could allow individual health care providers to redefine abortion to include the most common forms of birth control -- and then refuse to provide them. A woman's ability to manage her own health care is at risk of being compromised by politics and ideology. We have until September 25 to voice our opposition. Please, click here to help Planned Parenthood fight back by sending your comments to the Department of Health and Human Services:
And they give you a link to sign at the Planned Parenthood Action Center.
I have a few issues with Planned Parenthood, but this is too great for me to ignore. This is the template letter that the public can send to the Department of Health and Human Services:
I am writing to oppose the so-called "conscience" rule recently submitted by Secretary Leavitt. This regulation poses a serious threat to women's health care by limiting the rights of patients to receive complete and accurate health information and services.
At a time when more and more families are uninsured and under economic assault, we find our health care system is in crisis and our president taking steps to deny access to basic care. Women's ability to manage their own health care is at risk of being compromised by politics and ideology.
I was, and am, so outraged, I had to add my own thoughts:
And religion. This is like the Taliban: totally disrespectful of women. Think about the women in YOUR family for a moment. This rule has no "conscience"; it has no regard for the health of half of humanity. Some women need birth control for health reasons not related to preventing births but directly related to reproductive health. Would YOU deny something to your SONS, BROTHERS, FATHERS, and HUSBANDS if they needed something necessary for health maintenance? You certainly didn't turn a blind eye away from Viagra.
Don't be two-faced. Women are human beings, as worthy as men, not some commodity to be controlled by the religious and political ideologies of a few.
If the concern is abortion, banning access to contraceptives is not the answer. That is nothing but denying women their dignity and their health. It is INSULTING your mother, grandmother and ALL the women who came before them, and after them.
I haven't written this fast since the day I accidentally erased something off an ancient computer 20 years ago on the job and the executive director needed what I had just erased for a meeting she was attending. She needed it about 10 minutes. I re-produced the document it in 12 (not a bad memory, eh?), but when she left, my back was wet with sweat! %-0
I think I need to write more so I'll be a better writer. Be a better activist. Be better all-around.
There's always room for improvement. ;-)
Saturday, September 13, 2008
I Need a Magic Wand
Where's my fairy godmother?!
I'm supposed to be packing my belongings, but the past few days, I've had no desire to. I just wanna wave a sparkly magic wand across our apartment, where lots of twinkly stars and glitter will appear, like in a cartoon, and then, voila! (sorry, too lazy to find out how to make the accent mark above the letter!) EVERYTHING is packed and ready to go! Yay!
Nay.
Shucks. Everyday our apartment is looking like an obstacle course. Squeeze between these boxes. Step over those boxes. Re-arrange this box. Open that box and take stuff out. Throw out that clutter!
Oooh! Clutter. We're bad with paper clutter. But we also hate waste. The trick is to try and keep paper piles in NEAT piles! All it takes is the wind from the open window to ruin a pile!
The other night, I told my mom we threw out some stuff (but didn't tell her what we threw out.) In her usual "heh heh" motherly tone of voice, she said, "Well, if I were there, honey, I'd help you save some things."
I got a little loud. Right, Mom! That's how you never get rid of anything! ("I know, I know!") How you have food 20 years old lying around that you forgot about! (silence. oops!)
I come from a family of pack rats. I married a pack rat whose father is a pack rat. I can't say I'm not a pack rat...I reeaaallly try hard not to be one because too much stuff and clutter around does unnerve me (unless it's in other people's homes!). And it's our fault. But sometimes I feel like I'm being sucked into a sort of pack rat vaccuum. A pack rat black hole!
I have to remind myself it's only temporary. I do know myself enough to realize that I am a last-minute packer. This is, after all, the sixth time we've moved since we've been married. I should be a pro at packing, right? Think again...!
The problem is, the longer you've been with someone, the more you accumulate. Do I throw this thing out that we haven't used forever and hardly works? Why the heck did hubby save these ink pens that barely work: did he think ink would magically come out again? (Shh...I threw them out!)
Why so much scrap paper? So we won't waste paper! %-0 Paper is WEIGHT. Just think of books. My man is the one who does almost all the physical moving. Ideally, you want to distribute the weight, so you lessen the chances of injuring yourself--specifically, your back. Previously, I kept books with books, bathroom stuff with bathroom stuff, etc. Don't have everything scattered in twenty different boxes. Don't mess with MY organizing system! Hear me out, he implored: it makes better sense to distribute the weight, especially with heavy items like books.
I resisted at first: I'M the organizer here, dude! I don't want to be hunting for everything when we settle down in the new place! :-( So I said to him, as long as you label every box and try to keep kitchen stuff together, and bedroom stuff together, it should be okay. I don't want a roomful of "mystery boxes"! ;-0 He agreed to label everything, and only mess with his stuff, not mine. ;-)
I try to think of packing as a search and destroy mission: what archeological treasures will I find? (I found my expired passport during our last move!) What should I throw out, or give away to the Salvation Army--or drop off in the Planet Aid bin across the street from us? My favorite black dress shoes? They're twenty something years old! Scratched up and really, little support! (I have to think about posture issues, y'know, being a licensed massage therapist!). I mostly wore those shoes for formal ocassions: weddings or funerals. Am I waiting for someone to get married? To die? How morbid! Well, they're going out; I've got my money's worth out of them!
Same thing with clothes: some things I've never worn or once or twice. Too much clothes! So why do I always look at clothes in the clearance section of a store, and take clothes from my big sister and cousins?! For change! Sometimes, you have to throw nostaglia out the window! %-0
Search and destroy! Find it! Throw it out! Keep it! Keep moving through your stuff like a time bomb was going to go off so you can get back to doing what you'd really like to do, which is anything but packing!
Recently, a longtime friend of mine asked me why I did I move so often? There were valid reasons, I told her, beginning with: when I moved to another city to go to college, move out at the year's end, move to a cottage with a friend, move out because of a nasty asshole boyfriend, move to a bedroom in a family home, move out again because of the nasty asshole boyfriend, move to uncle's apartment building, move out when hubby transferred to a new college, move out from student housing when hubby dropped out and move to the east coast and live with his parents, younger bro and sil all under one roof. Then move into our own home for nearly a decade, then move upstate so hubby could finish his degree. And now, back down to the sticks, to be near family again.
Did you get all that? All told, it's about ten times total for me for the last 22 years. So to the friend who asked me that, that's why I moved so many times.
Is it a such a bad thing? Some people ask me that question in a very patronizing way, as if moving were a character flaw or a felony. :-( What about military families? They often move a lot don't they?
I think it all depends on how open minded, flexible, and adaptable you are. I try to see it as a challenge to become more adaptable. I certainly think I benefitted, by getting to know a greater diversity of people, becoming aware of my own biases, and becoming more tolerant and open minded towards other peoples' views.
Yes, moving is a pain in the butt. No doubt about that! But it's only a temporary process. The more organized you are, the less painful life will seem! ;-0 Right now, I have periods of highs and lows, regarding our packing process. Part of me wants to leave it until the last week. The other part of me says get off your bee-hind! I thought I had tried to resolve that issue by doing a little bit each day, since we came upon the sudden decision to move last month. It worked pretty well, but maybe because the moving out date is getting ever closer, my time to spend with my close friends here and the proximity to them is coming to a close--is weighing on my mind. :-(
Leaving behind friends and activities that I was involved in the last five years isn't the easiest thing. Easier for hubby, since he's a homebody. But moving was my decision also. I'll miss them terribly. And yet I am looking forward to a new start. A new lease on life. A new adventure in an area we're not familiar with, and know no one but his parents, who only live there half the year, off and on.
I just need a magic wand to make everything look neat, clean, and pretty again in the apartment so I don't have to stumble over our own mess!
Fairy godmother! Do you exist? Where art thou?! :-0
I'm supposed to be packing my belongings, but the past few days, I've had no desire to. I just wanna wave a sparkly magic wand across our apartment, where lots of twinkly stars and glitter will appear, like in a cartoon, and then, voila! (sorry, too lazy to find out how to make the accent mark above the letter!) EVERYTHING is packed and ready to go! Yay!
Nay.
Shucks. Everyday our apartment is looking like an obstacle course. Squeeze between these boxes. Step over those boxes. Re-arrange this box. Open that box and take stuff out. Throw out that clutter!
Oooh! Clutter. We're bad with paper clutter. But we also hate waste. The trick is to try and keep paper piles in NEAT piles! All it takes is the wind from the open window to ruin a pile!
The other night, I told my mom we threw out some stuff (but didn't tell her what we threw out.) In her usual "heh heh" motherly tone of voice, she said, "Well, if I were there, honey, I'd help you save some things."
I got a little loud. Right, Mom! That's how you never get rid of anything! ("I know, I know!") How you have food 20 years old lying around that you forgot about! (silence. oops!)
I come from a family of pack rats. I married a pack rat whose father is a pack rat. I can't say I'm not a pack rat...I reeaaallly try hard not to be one because too much stuff and clutter around does unnerve me (unless it's in other people's homes!). And it's our fault. But sometimes I feel like I'm being sucked into a sort of pack rat vaccuum. A pack rat black hole!
I have to remind myself it's only temporary. I do know myself enough to realize that I am a last-minute packer. This is, after all, the sixth time we've moved since we've been married. I should be a pro at packing, right? Think again...!
The problem is, the longer you've been with someone, the more you accumulate. Do I throw this thing out that we haven't used forever and hardly works? Why the heck did hubby save these ink pens that barely work: did he think ink would magically come out again? (Shh...I threw them out!)
Why so much scrap paper? So we won't waste paper! %-0 Paper is WEIGHT. Just think of books. My man is the one who does almost all the physical moving. Ideally, you want to distribute the weight, so you lessen the chances of injuring yourself--specifically, your back. Previously, I kept books with books, bathroom stuff with bathroom stuff, etc. Don't have everything scattered in twenty different boxes. Don't mess with MY organizing system! Hear me out, he implored: it makes better sense to distribute the weight, especially with heavy items like books.
I resisted at first: I'M the organizer here, dude! I don't want to be hunting for everything when we settle down in the new place! :-( So I said to him, as long as you label every box and try to keep kitchen stuff together, and bedroom stuff together, it should be okay. I don't want a roomful of "mystery boxes"! ;-0 He agreed to label everything, and only mess with his stuff, not mine. ;-)
I try to think of packing as a search and destroy mission: what archeological treasures will I find? (I found my expired passport during our last move!) What should I throw out, or give away to the Salvation Army--or drop off in the Planet Aid bin across the street from us? My favorite black dress shoes? They're twenty something years old! Scratched up and really, little support! (I have to think about posture issues, y'know, being a licensed massage therapist!). I mostly wore those shoes for formal ocassions: weddings or funerals. Am I waiting for someone to get married? To die? How morbid! Well, they're going out; I've got my money's worth out of them!
Same thing with clothes: some things I've never worn or once or twice. Too much clothes! So why do I always look at clothes in the clearance section of a store, and take clothes from my big sister and cousins?! For change! Sometimes, you have to throw nostaglia out the window! %-0
Search and destroy! Find it! Throw it out! Keep it! Keep moving through your stuff like a time bomb was going to go off so you can get back to doing what you'd really like to do, which is anything but packing!
Recently, a longtime friend of mine asked me why I did I move so often? There were valid reasons, I told her, beginning with: when I moved to another city to go to college, move out at the year's end, move to a cottage with a friend, move out because of a nasty asshole boyfriend, move to a bedroom in a family home, move out again because of the nasty asshole boyfriend, move to uncle's apartment building, move out when hubby transferred to a new college, move out from student housing when hubby dropped out and move to the east coast and live with his parents, younger bro and sil all under one roof. Then move into our own home for nearly a decade, then move upstate so hubby could finish his degree. And now, back down to the sticks, to be near family again.
Did you get all that? All told, it's about ten times total for me for the last 22 years. So to the friend who asked me that, that's why I moved so many times.
Is it a such a bad thing? Some people ask me that question in a very patronizing way, as if moving were a character flaw or a felony. :-( What about military families? They often move a lot don't they?
I think it all depends on how open minded, flexible, and adaptable you are. I try to see it as a challenge to become more adaptable. I certainly think I benefitted, by getting to know a greater diversity of people, becoming aware of my own biases, and becoming more tolerant and open minded towards other peoples' views.
Yes, moving is a pain in the butt. No doubt about that! But it's only a temporary process. The more organized you are, the less painful life will seem! ;-0 Right now, I have periods of highs and lows, regarding our packing process. Part of me wants to leave it until the last week. The other part of me says get off your bee-hind! I thought I had tried to resolve that issue by doing a little bit each day, since we came upon the sudden decision to move last month. It worked pretty well, but maybe because the moving out date is getting ever closer, my time to spend with my close friends here and the proximity to them is coming to a close--is weighing on my mind. :-(
Leaving behind friends and activities that I was involved in the last five years isn't the easiest thing. Easier for hubby, since he's a homebody. But moving was my decision also. I'll miss them terribly. And yet I am looking forward to a new start. A new lease on life. A new adventure in an area we're not familiar with, and know no one but his parents, who only live there half the year, off and on.
I just need a magic wand to make everything look neat, clean, and pretty again in the apartment so I don't have to stumble over our own mess!
Fairy godmother! Do you exist? Where art thou?! :-0
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Burning Up!
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
--Amendment I, Bill of Rights
I should be a pile of ashes from all the things that have been burning me up lately.
Things like independent journalists being brutally treated by police outside the Republican National Convention (and, I'm sure, the Democratic National Convention last week). Are they criminals? I don't think so! :-( Just listen to Democracy Now! and get a glimpse of the real world outside the political conventions.
The comments from the veteran groups (Iraq & Afghanistan, Vietnam) have been the most stirring...and shocking, in their sharing of their experiences.
I can't believe that last week, and likely, this week, protesters were confined to a caged area, like animals. Their area was designated as the "free speech area"! It all sounds like something that would be happening in a country like Myanmar/Burma, or some other developing country where human rights are ignored and scoffed at.
Police roughed up, detained, and arrested Democracy Now! staff and other journalists in the past few days, invading the places they were staying at (presumably without a warrant), and taking some of their equipment and/or taking the batteries out of their equipment. :-(( The NSA (National Security Adminstration) personnel stripped the journalists of their media passes into the RNC building. Literally ripped them off their necks. Is someone or some governing or corporate entity trying to hide something so as to prevent news from reaching people outside the convention? Interesting how the journalists and protesters are open and willing to speak the truth, and the opposing forces are brutal and secretive by not telling why their press passes are being taken or even if they will be returned or not.
All this excessive police force is very chilling, and counter-productive to what I thought they were supposed to do: maintain law and order. That sort of behavior will sow mistrust between law enforcement and the citizens on a regular everyday basis. Why go after journalists whose job is to report what is going on, and hopefully, bring the truth to the citizens?
I hope the protests will become increasingly LOUDER as the week goes on, and all the way to election day in November!
Normally, I don't care a fig for politics, though one might think I ought to since political science was my minor, and communication (with emphasis in print journalism) was my major in college. But this year, it's hard to avoid! And with my increasing interest in women's issues and everything related to it, I feel it is my responsibility to pay attention to what elected representatives are going to say because it is my future and everyone else's they're talking about!
I absolutely do not want an anti-women, war-mongering president in our White House. Not at all.
Last night, I read a New York Times article on the G.O.P.'s stance on abortion: they do not even allow exceptions for rape, incest, or the mother's health! So it won't bother them to have thousands of women die from back-alley abortions as in the decades (centuries?) before Roe vs. Wade?
Women are human beings, not pieces of property whose sole duty is supposedly to pump out puppies. It's THEIR choice how to live their lives. Uncle Sam should not enter a woman's womb, especially if he does not intend to go after the guy who fucked her up in the first place, literally and figuratively. :-(
Why is the burden always placed on the woman? Why is it only her fault for becoming pregnant? Is she really responsible for his uncontrollable, raging hormones?!
Between hearing about women-unfriendly stances by one party and the excessive police force against innocent journalists and peaceful protesters, I feel like we really are living in an Orwellian police state. 1984 was the scariest novel I've ever read, and I've read it more than once. In recent years, some unsuspecting citizens have found that if you say or write something criticizing Uncle Sam, or even participate in a peaceful protest, you could find yourself on the government's No Fly List.
All in the name of security? What about our civil liberties? When has might ever made right? I wonder if the people in charge ever heard of Ben Franklin, who wrote:
They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
My wish is to live and prosper in a free, progressive country, not a regressive, police-state-like one! If my name were ever to show up on some godforsaken list, I would be even more determined to defend my civil liberties and those of my fellow citizens. Tooth and nail.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
--Amendment IV, Bill of Rights
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